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Brian Henson
Brian Henson (b. November 3, 1963) is a director, producer, writer, performer, and Chairman of The Jim Henson Company. Early life Brian Henson was the third child of Jim and Jane Henson. As a child, he made several cameo appearances in Sesame Street segments, notably counting three peas, eight ping-pong balls, and various types of coins in the "Number Song Series." His first Sesame Street cameo, however, was in a film in which he and another boy play in the sand, pretending to be vehicles.2 As he got older, he built the very first Muppet Penguin puppet for an episode of The Muppet Show.3 During a summer break from high school, he assisted in the bicycle sequence from The Great Muppet Caper. He helped create and operate a special rigging device that was created to allow the Muppets to ride bicycles, since he was skilled in the use of marionette puppets.4 A few years later, he operated a marionette of Scooter riding a bicycle in The Muppets Take Manhattan.5 As a teenager, Brian Henson worked at Sesame Place one summer. One of his co-workers there was fellow future Muppeteer Bill Barretta. Henson recalled the experience:“ I was just a typical 17 year-old. I wanted a summer job, I didn't want to live at home, and I was very into being independent and living by my own means. Basically, my father suggested, "Maybe you want to go work at Sesame Place." My sister had a friend whose family owned a boarding house in Princeton, New Jersey – so that was why I really went to do it. I was basically helping kids who were crying on the rides and cleaning up bathrooms and smiling a lot with everybody else who ran Sesame Place. I think Sesame Place really wasn't part of an ambitious move – I was just a kid with a summer job. But I did meet people who I've continued to know all my life; who are all very successful in the film industry... Which is really kind of weird, that you'd go to this small town amusement park and be picking up cigarette butts with three other guys, and then 20 years later they're all big shots in the film industry.6 ”During the 1980s, Henson wanted to make a name for himself and find work without his father's help.7 He performed Jack Pumpkinhead in Return to Oz, operated special effects in Santa Claus: The Movie, and was a principal performer for the Audrey II puppet in Little Shop of Horrors, controlling mouth movement while others performed the lips and vines. In an 2013 interview, Henson discussed the difference between working on Return to Oz and working on a Muppet movie:“ It’s quite different, because you’re basically shooting a live-action movie, not a puppet movie. Director Walter Murch had a real shooting style that was very important to him. He’s a very careful, considered director. He really knew what he wanted. Whereas with a Muppet movie, you design how you’re going to shoot the movie around what puppets can do. This was different. We kind of had to figure out how to do every shot he wanted to do. We had five or six versions of every puppet, so the moment when Jack stands up full figure is actually a puppet made to complete that one motion. It was a different time when you could really take apart every shot and really build and prepare for every shot. Which is similar to the way post-production is approached together today, but pre-production never is anymore.8 ” Creature Shop involvement Most of Henson's work at The Jim Henson Company during the 1980s was in productions made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. One of the few exceptions was The Christmas Toy, where he performed Cruiser. In 1986, Brian Henson performed the voice and face movements of Hoggle in Labyrinth. He then performed the regular role of Dog on The StoryTeller and The StoryTeller: Greek Myths. He also performed occasionally on Dinosaurs. Brian Henson has a biographical involvement in the Creature Shop with the assistance of Kevin Clash.9: “ Once Jim Henson’s Creature Shop was firmly established in London after the end of Labyrinth production, everyone was eager to take advantage of the talent assembled. The shop had made the characters for the feature film Dream Child in 1984 and then in 1986, made a Koala for Qantas Airlines. Jim hoped to continue with these types of outside project as a way to keep everyone busy between Henson projects, but with the good response to The Storyteller pilot, it was clear there would be opportunities to continue with his own work in the UK. While the Creature Shop’s Henson work had, until that time, focused on feature films, several television projects were on the horizon and it was clear talent was needed for the eight additional Storyteller episodes, Greek Myths, Mother Goose Stories and The Ghost of Faffner Hall.Brian Henson was chief puppeteer on Labyrinth, assisted by Kevin Clash. The two worked well together and had run a puppeteers workshop to cast the background puppeteers for the film. They knew a small group of performers but hoped to expand for the upcoming television productions. At that time, according to Brian, lots of performers listed “puppeteer” on their resumes, but their skills were really in the performance of animatronic creatures not hand-puppets. For the new television work planned, hand puppeteers were required. To identify people with potential and to develop a base of performers in London, Brian put out an open call. In response, hundreds of resumes poured in and were reviewed for the 1987 workshop. About 250 people were given auditions on the rehearsal stage upstairs at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. Brian and Kevin narrowed the group down to about forty to start training and then reduced the group to twenty. By the end of the two weeks, about ten performers had been chosen for screen tests. Brian reviewed the footage with Jim and from a group that included John Eccleston, Alistair Fullarton, Mike Quinn, Marcus Clarke and others, they chose performers for the various projects shooting in the UK. Puppeteer workshops and training have a long history at Henson. In 1970, Jim held a workshop to expand his puppeteer roster going into the production of The Great Santa Claus Switch – there he found Fran Brill and Richard Hunt. Brian ran workshops for both Dinosaurs and Muppets Tonight. Jane Henson held informal training sessions regularly over the years. Henson puppeteers routinely travel abroad to train puppeteers for the international co-productions of Sesame Street. And Jim, when he could squeeze it into his schedule, was happy to share his craft with puppetry students. During the summer after the London workshop, Jim and Brian went to the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mezieres, France and spent a couple weeks teaching young performers and sharing their insights. ” Henson Company involvement In 1990, after the death of Jim Henson and the dissolution of the company's planned merger with The Walt Disney Company, Brian, along with his other siblings, took over operations of The Jim Henson Company. In January 1991, at the age of 27, Brian was named President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of the Henson Company. In 1995, the Henson Company created the Office of the President and longtime Henson executive Charles Rivkinbecame President and Chief Operating Officer, while Brian became President and Chief Executive Officer. After the sale to EM.TV in 2000, Brian became chairman until he resigned in 2002. One year later, he led his siblings in the re-acquisition of the Henson Company from EM.TV. Brian Henson has produced many Henson series, and he directed select episodes of Mother Goose Stories, Dinosaurs, Muppets Tonight, and Farscape. He also directed The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Muppet performing Brian Henson became one of the core Muppet performers starting with Muppets Tonight, where his roles included Sal Minella, Seymour the Elephant, Nigel the Director, and Dr. Phil van Neuter. In the Behind-the-scenes feature on the Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story DVD, Brian Henson refers to Bill Barretta as his "performing partner", and together they performed such duos as Seymour and Pepe, and Johnny Fiama and Sal. Barretta also normally performed the hands of Dr. Phil van Neuter, and in Episode 103 of Muppets Tonight, Henson's character Sal had a run-in with Barretta's Bobo the Bear, in which Sal was hurled from the building for continually referring to Bobo as "butt-head". Although Dr. Phil van Neuter has occasionally been used since then, Henson's only character from that series to continue being used regularly is Sal, who has appeared in Muppets from Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, The Muppets Wizard of Oz, and other productions. At the 2001 live show, The Muppet Show Live, Brian Henson finally took over one of his father's characters, the Newsman. In It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Henson took over two of Richard Hunt's characters, Scooter and Janice. Henson would perform these two characters again, along with the Newsman, in the video game Muppets Party Cruise. Current projects In 1999, Brian Henson appeared in a series of Introductionsthat were recorded especially for Muppet Show reruns on the Odyssey Network. He also recorded audio commentary for the original DVD releases of The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, and he appeared in some features on the DVD releases Dinosaurs: The Complete First and Second Seasons and Dinosaurs: The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons (providing audio commentary on the latter). Brian Henson also recently directed Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. He performed Augustus Pfiffle in Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del, a puppet-hosted, improvisational talk show, in which he has joined once again with Bill Barretta, who performed co-host Delbert Kastle. He is also involved with Puppet Up. In 2007, Barretta and Henson wrote, produced, and directed LOGO's Tinseltown, and they perform the puppets of Bobby Vegan and Samson Knight. He also directed and is executive producer of Sid the Science Kid. Henson is currently the lead judge of a reality series, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge .'' Muppeteer Credits *The Great Muppet Caper: Floyd Pepper (puppeteer), Beaker (puppeteer), Droop *The Muppets Take Manhattan: Additional Muppet Performer *Labyrinth: Hoggle, Goblins *The Christmas Toy: Cruiser *The Witches: Puppeteer *Dinosaurs: Arthur Rizzic, Aubrey Molehill, Ethyl, Grapdelite, Art Nielsen *Muppet Classic Theater: Andy Pig, Rat, Elvis, Whatnot, Sheep *Muppet Fairy Tales: Andy Pig, Rat, Elvis, Whatnot, Sheep *Muppets Tonight'' *''Muppets from Space: Dr. Phil van Neuter, Sal Minella; Alien Gonzo, Scooter (puppeteer) (uncredited) *Family Feud: Dr. Phil van Neuter, Sal Minella *The Muppet Show Live: Sal, The Newsman, Chicken *It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie: Janice, Zippity Zap, Sal Minella, Scooter, Whatnot, Beauregard (puppeteer), Rat *The Muppets' Wizard of Oz: Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (right hand/puppeteer), Sal Minella *Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del'' *Tinseltown *Stuffed and Unstrung *''Hot Dog TV'' *Grammy Awards *Neil's Puppet Dreams *''That Puppet Game Show'' Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Christmas Toy part 1.png|Brian Henson with Jerry Nelson (file link) ‎ (← links) Richard Hunt (file link) ‎ (← links) Dave Goelz (file link) ‎ (← links) Steve Whitmire (file link) ‎ (← links) Kathryn Mullen (file link) ‎ (← links) Brian Henson (file link) ‎ (← links) Camille Bonora (file link) ‎ (← links) Nikki Tilroe (file link) ‎ (← links) Rob Mills (file link) ‎ (← links) Ed Christie (file link) ‎ (← links) Mike Petersen (file link) ‎ (← links) Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppet Classic Theater part 8.png|Brian Henson with Frank Oz (file link) ‎ (← links) Jerry Nelson (file link) ‎ (← links) Dave Goelz (file link) ‎ (← links) Brian Henson (file link) ‎ (← links) Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppet Classic Theater part 7.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppet Classic Theater part 6.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppet Classic Theater part 4.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes 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Puppetry event at the Henson Studios part 1.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki Behind the scenes The Great Muppet Caper part 1.png|Brian Henson with Jim Henson Frank Oz Jerry Nelson Richard Hunt Steve Whitmire Mike Quinn and Robbie Barnett Muppet wiki Behind the scenes The Great Muppet Caper part 2.png|Brian Henson with Jim Henson Frank Oz Jerry Nelson Richard Hunt Dave Goelz Steve Whitmire Brian Muehl and Mike Quinn Muppet wiki Behind the scenes photos The Great Muppet Caper part 2.png|Brian Henson with Jim Henson Caroll Spinney Frank Oz Jerry Nelson Richard Hunt Dave Goelz Steve Whitmire Kathryn Mullen Bob Payne Brian Muehl Mike Quinn Louise Gold and Robbie Barnett Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppets from Space part 8.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos Muppets from Space part 11.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppets from Space part 19.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos Muppets from Space part 20.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos Muppets from Space part 35.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki Behind the scenes Muppets from Space part 41.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 1.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 2.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 3.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 4.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 8.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 9.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 10.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 11.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 15.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 20.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 23.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 24.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 25.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 27.png Muppet wiki Behind the scenes It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie part 29.png Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 3.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 6.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 7.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 8.png|Brian Henson with Dave Goelz (file link) ‎ (← links) Steve Whitmire (file link) ‎ (← links) Kevin Clash (file link) ‎ (← links) Eric Jacobson (file link) ‎ (← links) John Kennedy (file link) ‎ (← links) Tyler Bunch (file link) ‎ (← links) Rickey Boyd (file link) ‎ (← links) Allan Trautman (file link) ‎ (← links) Brian Henson (file link) ‎ (← links) Bill Barretta (file link) ‎ (← links) Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 9.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 10.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 11.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 12.png|Brian Henson with Muppet wiki behind the scenes photos The Muppets' Wizard of Oz part 14.png|Brian Henson with Muppet ideas credits * Muppets Tonight future seasons * The Muppets 2000 Presentation Pilot: Sal Minella * The Muppets (tv series 2000): Sal Minella, The Newsman, Dr. Phil van Neuter, Pokey, Scooter (11 episodes), Janice (11 episodes) Category:Muppeteers